Pi Network Hits 18 Million Verified Users — But Backlogs Still Frustrate Pioneers

Pi Network has crossed a significant milestone, announcing that more than 18 million users have completed identity verification on its platform. The Pi Core Team is positioning this achievement as a competitive edge over other blockchain networks that simply track wallet creation, arguing that verified identities are essential for meaningful value transfers in any decentralized ecosystem.

The verification process behind this milestone is notably rigorous. Pi's built-in KYC system combines AI-assisted fraud detection with human reviewers, deploying over one million validators who collectively completed 526 million individual verification tasks. Each identity submission goes through approximately 30 separate checks before receiving approval. To reward this labor-intensive effort, the network recently completed its first-ever validator reward distribution, releasing 26.5 million PI tokens to participants — earning validators roughly 0.05 PI per task, which is about 22 times the standard mining rate.

On the market side, PI was trading near $0.17 at the time of reporting, reflecting a 3.43% daily gain with a total market capitalization of approximately $1.75 billion.

Despite the celebratory announcement, a growing number of community members remain stuck in a verification backlog. An estimated 44 million users have held "tentative" KYC status at some point, meaning their applications required additional review before granting full Mainnet access. Some Pioneers report waiting more than two years with no resolution, and others lost accumulated coins after missing KYC deadlines. Community frustration is mounting, with users warning it could take a decade to clear the queue at the current pace.

To address this, Pi introduced a FastTrack verification option and automated review process, which reportedly cleared an additional 3.36 million users. With over 16 million Mainnet migrations completed, the gap between verified users and fully migrated accounts remains a critical challenge. Pi Network's long-term success will likely hinge on how efficiently it resolves these delays for its most dedicated users.